White House at odds as feud reportedly erupts between Karine Jean-Pierre and Biden-favorite John Kirby

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://nypost.com/2024/01/05/news/tension-in-white-house-as-karine-jean-
pierre-john-kirby-split-briefing-time/

Will the real White House spokesperson please stand up?

Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Council
spokesman John Kirby are reportedly at odds behind the scenes over how
responsibilities for their regular media briefings are being divvied up.

Kirby, a former top spokesman for the Pentagon and State Department, has
made increasingly frequent appearances on the podium since the Oct. 7
Hamas terror attack on Israel — and is a favorite of the president, who
often asks Kirby to brief him personally, according to Axios.

Despite his prominence as the administration’s de facto foreign policy
spokesman, Kirby’s briefing room appearances are tightly controlled by
Jean-Pierre — who selects which reporters can ask Kirby questions.

The press secretary notably does no such thing when Kirby’s nominal boss,
national security adviser Jake Sullivan, attends briefings — leading Kirby
to express frustration with the situation.

“It’s not my briefing room,” the 60-year-old Kirby, a retired Navy rear
admiral, recently groused to one person who asked how he was enjoying his
White House position, sources tell The Post.

The awkwardness dates back to Jen Psaki’s departure as White House press
secretary in May 2022, two weeks before Kirby came over from the Pentagon.

President Biden formally offered Jean-Pierre the role as Psaki’s
successor, but muddied the waters by adding that she would be working with
Kirby, Jean-Pierre told colleagues at the time, according to Axios.

Since then, some black administration members have suggested to the media
the arrangement was insulting to Jean-Pierre because it implied the first-
ever African-American press secretary was in need of supervision.

Meanwhile, Kirby has reportedly told people that he would like to be press
secretary one day, though a person familiar with the situation told The
Post Friday he has never volunteered that ambition.

Jean-Pierre, for her part, has said she intends to remain in her role at
least through this year’s election and claims Biden has asked her not to
leave.

In a sign of Kirby’s rising star, he has begun accompanying the president
aboard Air Force One on domestic trips as well as international visits,
reportedly at the request of senior White House adviser Anita Dunn.

The pair have only been confronted about the arrangement once, in
September 2022, when Kirby firmly brushed off questions from Today News
Africa reporter and occasional briefing room gadfly Simon Ateba about
whether he was a “second press secretary” who was effectively doing the
same job as Jean-Pierre.

“If anyone gets any kind of idea in their head that [I’m] taking away from
Karine or her work, that’s really regrettable. And I’m very sorry that
that’s any impression that anyone would have,” Kirby said at the time.

“I’m able to come up here every now and then to talk to you about national
security issues. That’s my portfolio. That’s where I’m limited. That’s
where I’ll stay,” he added, noting that his appearances in the briefing
room were preceded by invitations from, and the approval of, Jean-Pierre.

Ateba has not been called upon to ask a question since.

Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, Kirby has been by Jean-
Pierre’s side at more than 30 press briefings, with the press secretary
only making a solo appearance once during that time.

Complicating matters is Jean-Pierre’s history of needlessly creating
headaches for the White House.

In June, the Office of Special Counsel determined Jean-Pierre’s repeated
use of the term “mega MAGA Republicans” in the run-up to the 2022 midterm
elections constituted a violation of the Hatch Act, which restricts
federal employees from engaging in political activities that could
influence an election.

However, the agency declined to take further action, saying merely that
White House lawyers disagreed that her remarks were prohibited under the
act.

Jean-Pierre also drew sharp criticism during an Oct. 23 press briefing
when she answered a question about the rise of antisemitism in the US,
claiming the White House hadn’t seen “any credible threats” against the
Jewish community before pivoting to talk about hate crimes against Muslims
and Arab Americans.

Jean-Pierre later told Fox News Digital that she had misheard the question
before unequivocally condemning the “repulsive increase in antisemitic
rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and hate crimes in our nation,” which she
called “a rising threat.”

A White House official who works closely with both Jean-Pierre and Kirby
told The Post that they’ve seen no sign of a rift between the two.

“As someone who spends more time ‘behind closed doors’ with both of them
than just about any other person, I don’t recognize this description of
their relationship at all,” the official said. “The truth is the opposite
— they talk all the time and have a collegial and collaborative rapport.”


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No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
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President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
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